Official conference photos will be available at http://photos.hackinthebox.org in about 2 weeks time. Don’t forget to follow @hitbsecconf on Twitter! This blog posting will also be updated with links to post conference media coverage as and when they get published. If we’ve missed a news article or blog posting, please send us an email.

There’s still about 3 weeks +/- to register for your conference seats and if you haven’t already done so, then we strongly encourage you to register now (unless the idea of standing for 2 days listening to talks sounds appealing)! Places for the training courses on the 17th and 18th of May are also selling out fast. See you guys next month!

Below are the winners from the first and second round of Capture the Flag Pre Qualifications. Congratulations to those who cracked our challenge, we look forward to seeing all of you for the on-site game in Amsterdam on the 19th and the 20th of May. If you have any questions or comments please email hitbctf-ams@hackinthebox.org

As part of Google’s ongoing commitment to encouraging women to excel in computing and technology, Google is pleased to announce the HITB2011 Conference Grant. This grant is set up to enable more female computer scientists to attend and participate in HITB2011AMS. The grant includes a pass to the conference on 19th and 20th of May (accommodation not included) & travel expenses up to EUR500! We encourage all female hackers and computer scientists to apply.

To be eligible for a conference grant, candidates must:

• Be a female working in or studying Computer Science
• Maintain a strong academic background with demonstrated leadership ability
• Be able to attend the 2 full days of the main conference

How To Apply

To apply, send an e-mail before 20th April 2011 to europe-events@google.com with the subject “HITB 2011 Conference Grant” and the following details:

1.) Your full name and email address
2.) Current address, contact phone number and copy of photo ID
3.) Your CV
4.) A 1-page statement (no more than 600 words) about why you wish to attend HITB2011AMS and why attending is important to your research and/or future career

Winners and claim process

The winners will be notified via e-mail by April 27 2011. If you are a successful applicant, you will be sent your free ticket and a payment form to expense your travel costs to be completed and submitted after the event.

Below are the first round of speakers who have been confirmed for HITBSecConf2011 – Amsterdam. Stay tuned for more speakers to be announced this week and the draft conference agenda which will be released on Friday, 11th March 2011.

Individuals and teams wanting to participate in the Capture The Flag – World Domination competition at #HITB2011AMS will need to go through a pre-qualification round (held online) over the weekend of the 19th and 20th March. This pre-qual game will also give participants an insight into what to expect come game day.

The game will last for 24 hours from March 19th to March 20th and you must successfully complete at least one puzzle in order to compete at the CTF at HITB Amsterdam. Each round will start 0900 US Eastern Standard Time. Each player will be presented with two puzzles to solve. You will have 24 hours to complete the puzzle and submit your answer via email. The puzzle site details will be emailed to you at the start of the round.

Welcome to the official homepage of HITBSecConf2011 – Amsterdam – the second annual HITBSecConf in Europe! At our first ever .EU event in 2010 we brought a brand new quad track format conference and this year we’re about to bring a new feature first introduced at HITB2010KUL – the keynote panel discussion. For HITB2011AMS the discussion will focus on The Economics of Vulnerabilities and features keynote panelist from Google, Adobe, McAfee, TippingPoint and Mozilla!

HITBSecConf2011 – Amsterdam will also feature a brand new Capture The Flag – World Domination run by the HITB.nl CTF Crew, an expanded Hackerspaces Village (with participation from .NL and .EU based hackerspaces) a lock picking village set up and run by members from TOOOL.nl and of course the HITBSIGINT sessions – 15 minute talks held during the coffee and lunch breaks with a focus on highlighting up and coming research and researchers.

There are only 500 seats available for HITB2011AMS and we encourage you to register early! Students and members of the various participating hackerspaces get to attend the conference on the 19th and 20th of May at only EUR 250!

About HITBSecConf

The main aim of the HITBSecConf conference series is to create a truly technical and deep knowledge event in order to allow you to learn first hand on the security threats you face in todays super connected world. The HITBSecConf platform is used to enable the dissemination, discussion and sharing of critical network security information. Presented by respected members of both the mainstream network security arena as well as the underground or black hat community, our events routinely highlight new and ground-breaking attack and defense methods that have not been seen or discussed in public before. Our conferences are held annually in Dubai (UAE), Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) and now Amsterdam in The Netherlands!